Developing a vibrant city centre in the digital age

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

I love Gisborne and my large extended family live here, but I live in Wellington. I work for the government saving money by helping reduce taxpayer spend on commodity digital technologies and services. My job requires me to understand the impact of the digital age; socially, economically and environmentally.

The digital age is upon us but our “mindsets” are yet to catch up. So, while I am conscious that the majority of my family spend their money online, when I visit Gisborne, I still expect to see vibrant shops in the main street.

But Gladstone Road is suffering. Lack of patronage means only either truly local shops, chain stores or $2 shops are there.

It is time for us to change our mindsets and ask our community and our council what a vibrant, potentially non-commercial, main street might look like in the digital age.

We need our economic development representatives to work on a plan, with the community.

Creative ideas might include kapa haka practice rooms, art studios, bottling kitchens to help with the excess of fruit in the region (I’m thinking of the feijoas on the footpath) and to share or barter produce, music studios, knitting and spinning circles, life- long learning facilities — you get the idea. Just a thought as I shift my mindset to a future without physical shops.

There is an opportunity for us to make Gizzy the coolest little regional town in New Zealand.

Arohanui,

Julie Watson